Border Patrol Reports Uptick In Illegal Border Crossings

SAN DIEGO — U.S. Border Patrol agents working in the San Diego area have seen a nearly 30 percent increase in illegal border-crossing during the first half of the current fiscal year, as compared to the same time period last year, the federal agency reported Monday, March 20.

According to USBP San Diego Sector, from last October through the beginning of this month, agents encountered 86,074 people who had entered the United States unlawfully.

Over the first six months of the prior fiscal year, that statistic topped out at 67,222, the agency reported.

A total of 55 percent of the migrants apprehended locally this fiscal year were from nations other than Mexico, with the top five countries being Colombia, Cuba, Peru, Nicaragua and Turkey, according to the data released by USBP.

Working with other federal personnel and state and local agencies, Border Patrol agents also have thwarted more than 300 maritime-smuggling attempts in the San Diego area so far this fiscal year, taking 619 people into custody during the operations, according to USBP officials.

Border Patrol officers also impounded over 1,900 pounds of narcotics in the region over the period, including 583 pounds of fentanyl — putting the agency on track to surpass the previous seizure record of 1,052 pounds of the drug, set last fiscal year — along with 765 pounds of methamphetamine, 514 pounds of cocaine and 45 pounds of heroin, City News Service reported.

"These results are a direct testament to the heart and soul of our agents," USBP Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke said. "In the midst of turmoil, uncertainty and even global pandemics, our agents show up and get the job done."

City News Service contributed to this story.